My wifes not into the whole prepardness thing. I am She dosent want a extra bag, no matter how much good it will do. So i took a diffrant route. Got her a bigger purse and tossed in some stuff for her. Not nearly what i would like her to have, but not so much that its to heavy and she emptyes it out.
Women.

I'm putting together a GHB for my wife to keep in the car with her. It is much more difficult than the one I did for myself. I have to keep in mind that she is much smaller than I am and unfortunately does not have the same outdoor skillsets and experience that I do. Training is definitely needed.

The rationale for this is that a catastrophe or unrest could prevent her from returning home while she is traveling. Typically she only drives three miles to work and back. At times she can be as far as three hours away because of her job. Having a small store of food, water, means of providing shelter, change of clothing, light, heat, first aid kit, and water purification is necessary for her to make it home or to stay alive in inclimate weather.

Because she in only 5'4" I got her a small pack that has padded shoulder straps, sternum strap, and waist belt. These features make hauling a load much more comfortable. I was surprised and pleased that while I was packing the supplies I have gotten so far that she came to me with a handful of feminine supplies. The girl has some smarts! My goal is to make it possible for her to make it for at least three days with the food included.
Here is a list of what I have gotten so far.

There are some things I don't have yet, on the list so far is a one quart canteen with cup and canteen stove. Freeze dried meals. Instant coffee and sugar. She needs to pack a couple pairs of socks, change of underwear, a pair of comfortable and rugged pants, and her hiking boots.

Next time I'm in a surplus store or gun show I'll get her a couple of Combat Casualty blankets. These are way stronger than the mylar emergency blankets with reflective on one side and OD on the other. They have grommets and can make an excellent shelter. I know there is more to do and I'm working on it. I'm glad she is onboard with this. She has thanked me a couple of times already for doing this, makes me feel like she has gotten away from being a sheep. Now I need to work harder on getting her comfortable with a handgun. I have two that are small and would work well as defense weapons that would pack easily. I'm currently packing my Keltec P11 in my GHB. The trouble is keeping is fairly light, hopefully below 25 pounds or so.

Good idea.

You may also want to plan on an agreed evacuation route from her work to your home as well. That way, if you need to go get her, you would know where to look.

If you drive the route, together, then she will be familiar with it.

A woman on the road is very vulnerable. You would need to reunite with her quickly in order to give her even a chance for survival under those conditions.

I would go lite on the food. Just load her up with a couple of chocolate bars and grainola bars. Your primary objective would need to be to reunite with her.

If she is not comfortable with a gun, then a can of pepper spray would be her best bet. Not everyone can shoot. It takes a hard heart to shoot someone. Oftentimes, women, and especially civilians, cannot do it.

My wifes not into the whole prepardness thing. I am She dosent want a extra bag, no matter how much good it will do. So i took a diffrant route. Got her a bigger purse and tossed in some stuff for her. Not nearly what i would like her to have, but not so much that its to heavy and she emptyes it out.
Women.

You are exactly right about women. They are emotional creatures, for the most part, and if they don't want to face something they put it completely out of their minds.

Your best bet is to plan an evacuation route with her, so that you know where to find her, so you two can reunite, at least.

A hatchet with a belt sheath is one of the best survival tools you can have. I would take a hatchet over a knife if I had to choose one or the other. A hatchet and small knife over a large knife.

There are hatchett/knife combo's on the market. I used to have one.

Now I just have both, a hatchett, a small-med knife, and second small-med knife, and a machete.

I am no fan of the kabar fighting knives. These are ok for field marines and army airborne, but vastly inferior to any good machete for combat, and not very good as knives either.

The military brass are slowly also coming to this realization, and so they are starting to arm the infantry (Army & Marine) with combat hatchetts. But it's like the evolution of the M-4 assault rifle, it's taking a really long time.